It seems to have become a recurring trend at weddings in western UP.

Two persons died after they were hit by bullets fired during a wedding celebration at Dudhli area of Muzaffar Nagar district.

This time, the firing allegedly took place with a 9mm service pistol of a Ghaziabad police sub-inspector who has been been absconding after the incident.

The incident took place on February 17 when Amit Chauhan, a 1999-2000 batch officer and current station-officer from Bhojpur area of Ghaziabad, had gone to attend a wedding in Muzaffar Nagar.

Here, he allegedly fired from his service pistol, and the bullets hit a 13-year-old boy, Shivam Kashyap, and a 38-year-old local journalist, Afaq Ansari, from Loni.Kashyap died on the way to the hospital, while Ansari, who was hit in the chest, died on the spot.

“He had left the police station by officially recording that he was going to conduct a raid in connection with an abduction incident. Instead, he landed up at the wedding,” said Raghubir Lal, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ghaziabad.

The Ghaziabad police also seized a video-recording of the wedding that shows Chauhan’s informer, Bittu, also firing shots from the pistol.

“Two of the victims can be seen falling down after sustaining bullet injuries from a close range. We have seized Chauhan’s pistol and suspended him from service. A departmental inquiry has also been setup against him. He is currently absconding with his informer,” the Ghaziabad SSP said.

“An FIR has been lodged against them, and they have been booked for murder,” the SSP added.

SSP Muzaffar Nagar, Praveen Kumar said that several teams had been sent to nab the accused. “They both fired around 10-15 bullets at the wedding from the service pistol,” Kumar said.